This invention relates to a process for producing vinyl acetate which comprises reacting acetic anhydride with hydrogen.
Vinyl acetate has been produced from acetylene in the past. Recently vinyl acetate has also been produced from ethylene. In case of producing vinyl acetate from ethylene, palladium chloride or mixture of palladium chloride and sodium acetate has been used as a catalyst.
In addition, process for producing vinyl acetate which comprises producing ethylidene diacetate (1,1-diacetoxy ethane) from acetaldehyde and acetic anhydride and causing thermal decomposition of the ethylidene diacetate to form vinyl acetate, and process for producing vinyl acetate and acetic acid from acetaldehyde and acetic anhydride directly have been proposed (refer to Hydrocarbon Process, 44 (11) 287 (1965), British Patent No. 1,112,555 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,021,698, 2,425,389 and 2,860,159).